“I always try to find a new way for the pupils to learn. If they had a mental wall or something, they don’t want to go on; I can try to open a door for them.”(Eva Sundholm, Teacher of Additional Support Needs, Bobergsgymnasiet)
After looking at the provision of support for pupils with ASN at the Anderson High School, we realised that this is an extremely important area in relation to Personalised Learning because due to the individual and sometimes very complex needs of pupils, there is often no other option for teachers than to personalise learning.
In retrospect of this, we decided it is important to try and find out about ASN support for pupils in all of the partner schools we visit.
In Shetland and in particular the Anderson High School, there is a wide range of ASN provision. The main reason for this is that Shetland is an isolated community: the education of all pupils, regardless of their needs, is met on the island. The Anderson High School therefore provides an education to pupils of all abilities.
In Sweden, the education system is different and at the age of 15 pupils choose which school to continue their higher education in. There are different schools for pupils of different abilities and often pupils have to meet the entry requirements of a school before they are accepted to study there.
Due to this we were unsure about what support would be available at Bobergs for pupils with ASN however we found out that there was actually quite a lot of specialised support within the school.
In the school there is a small ASN department called “STUDIUM” where pupils can drop by every morning to seek extra help and advice. There is help available specifically in Swedish, English and Maths for an hour before school begins. There are three teachers who work in the "STUDIUM" and according to an information pamphlet in the school "the teachers are there to help with study skills in cooperation with mainstream teachers".
Aside from this, they also help with specialised technology for pupils who may require things like scanned audio books or tips on specialised software for studying.
The "STUDIUM" is a good example of personalised learning for pupils with ASN because the role of the teachers there is to meet the specific needs of any pupil who may be struggling. We interviewed Eva Granlund Sundholm and Anna Hansson (two out of the three teachers in "STUDIUM") to find out a bit more about their role within the school.
Interview with Eva Granlund Sundholm
“There is a dream…that we can see every pupil and to help them from where they are, so that they can study [at] their own speed...but I think that is a long way to come.”
Eva talks about the STUDIUM and the extra support that is available to students. She explains that she helps pupils with specific additional support needs but also pupils who may be struggling for any number of reasons:
“You don’t need a diagnosis or something to come here you just can drop in; and you can be the best pupil in that school but you can get help. Or [if] you have been sick, or you have been away or something.”
Her role within the school is not only to support pupils but to support teachers in order to help them support pupils.
She thinks that in general most of the teachers in the school are interested to try new things with pupils in different ways, however she sometimes faces challenges when teachers just want to prepare their lesson and go in to the class and teach it, regardless of whether the pupils are following it or not.
Finally she talks a bit about how the open environment at AWARE is good for pupils with ASN however she hopes that the opening of the Learning Centre in Boberg may help create a similar environment within the school.
Interview with Anna Hansson
According to Anna she is the ‘Introductions Coordinator’ for the school which involves meeting new pupils to discuss their grades and constructing an individual plan/schedule for each pupil. She is also involved in supporting pupils with ASN.
In particular Anna talks about a specific programme that she runs in the school, which is for pupils who do not have the necessary grades to enter any other programme.
“Special needs, I mean all of them have some kind of special needs since they weren’t able to finish their courses when they were supposed to. Some people need more time, some people need more motivation, some people need computer programmesto help them so they all need some kind of special attention”.
She explains that sometimes pupils end up in this programme because they either didn't have the help they needed or they have been doing something else other than attending school. Anna also talks about home-school links and how this can impact on pupils:
“Their home life can actually be a major factor because some of them don’t get any support from home at all. Some of them have parents telling them that school isn’t important saying look at me I finished school when I was 14 and I have a job but it doesn’t really work in that way now, so it is hard! Some of the students have really really great parents that call me or come to visit and help them with homework”
She thinks this programme is extremely important because if it didn’t exist then the students wouldn’t have the relevant grades to enter any other programme and they would be forced to find a job at 15/16, which would be an impossible situation given their circumstances. Furthermore this year the entry requirements for other programmes have become stricter which makes this programme even more necessary.
Finally Anna talks to us about a specific piece of technology she uses called ‘Word Read Plus’ which aims to help pupils who are struggling with their English or who have come from other countries and are learning English for the first time at 16 or 17. With the programme students can replay English words, so for example if they see a word they don’t know the programme will read it out to them so they know how to pronounce it. The programme can also be used for Swedish students reading a long text, in order to help them with their grammar and is personalised for students with learning difficulties who find it easier to listen to the text rather than read it.
The AWARE Programme and Pupils with ASN
While “the STUDIUM” is based primarily in Bobergs, we also found out specifically how the AWARE programme meets the needs of pupils with ASN. Although the AWARE programme has specific entry requirements like most programmes in Sweden, when the programme began it was agreed to take a certain number of students with learning, social or any other difficulties. According to Nils-Olov Hagman a teacher at AWARE, the programme currently caters to students with a number of difficulties including dyslexia, Aspergers syndrome and tourette’s syndrome. There is a teacher at AWARE who has a lot of knowledge about additional support needs and she devises a personal programme for these students.
Leif Thorsson (English teacher at AWARE) further sums up his views on how the atmosphere of AWARE can benefit pupils with additional needs:
“I think there is a higher percentage of students here who have reading and writing difficulties. But here they can learn in a more personalised way, and also, they are very helpful to one another. They don’t perceive their difficulties as a difficulty really.”
Conclusion
Due to the way the Swedish education system works and the fact that students can choose which programme to enter, we were unsure of the level of additional support that would be offered at Boberg/AWARE. However we found that although schools set entry criteria there are guidelines and legal obligations which mean that the school must still cater to pupils with additional support needs. As a result there are several examples of Personalised Learning which cater to a range of additional support needs in the school.
“I always try to find a new way for the pupils to learn. If they had a mental wall or something, they don’t want to go on; I can try to open a door for them.” (Eva Sundholm, Teacher of Additional Support Needs, Bober
gsgymnasiet)
After looking at the provision of support for pupils with ASN at the Anderson High School, we realised that this is an extremely important area in relation to Personalised Learning because due to the individual and sometimes very complex needs of pupils, there is often no other option for teachers than to personalise learning.
In retrospect of this, we decided it is important to try and find out about ASN support for pupils in all of the partner schools we visit.
In Shetland and in particular the Anderson High School, there is a wide range of ASN provision. The main reason for this is that Shetland is an isolated community: the education of all pupils, regardless of their needs, is met on the island. The Anderson High School therefore provides an education to pupils of all abilities.
In Sweden, the education system is different and at the age of 15 pupils choose which school to continue their higher education in. There are different schools for pupils of different abilities and often pupils have to meet the entry requirements of a school before they are accepted to study there.
Due to this we were unsure about what support would be available at Bobergs for pupils with ASN however we found out that there was actually quite a lot of specialised support within the school.
In the school there is a small ASN department called “STUDIUM” where pupils can drop by every morning to seek extra help and advice. There is help available specifically in Swedish, English and Maths for an hour before school begins. There are three teachers who work in the "STUDIUM" and according to an information pamphlet in the school "the teachers are there to help with study skills in cooperation with mainstream teachers".
Aside from this, they also help with specialised technology for pupils who may require things like scanned audio books or tips on specialised software for studying.
The "STUDIUM" is a good example of personalised learning for pupils with ASN because the role of the teachers there is to meet the specific needs of any pupil who may be struggling. We interviewed Eva Granlund Sundholm and Anna Hansson (two out of the three teachers in "STUDIUM") to find out a bit more about their role within the school.Interview with Eva Granlund Sundholm
“There is a dream…that we can see every pupil and to help them from where they are, so that they can study [at] their own speed...but I think that is a long way to come.”
Eva talks about the STUDIUM and the extra support that is available to students. She explains that she helps pupils with specific additional support needs but also pupils who may be struggling for any number of reasons:
“You don’t need a diagnosis or something to come here you just can drop in; and you can be the best pupil in that school but you can get help. Or [if] you have been sick, or you have been away or something.”
Her role within the school is not only to support pupils but to support teachers in order to help them support pupils.
She thinks that in general most of the teachers in the school are interested to try new things with pupils in different ways, however she sometimes faces challenges when teachers just want to prepare their lesson and go in to the class and teach it, regardless of whether the pupils are following it or not.
Finally she talks a bit about how the open environment at AWARE is good for pupils with ASN however she hopes that the opening of the Learning Centre in Boberg may help create a similar environment within the school.
Interview with Anna Hansson
According to Anna she is the ‘Introductions Coordinator’ for the school which involves meeting new pupils to discuss their grades and constructing an individual plan/schedule for each pupil. She is also involved in supporting pupils with ASN.
In particular Anna talks about a specific programme that she runs in the school, which is for pupils who do not have the necessary grades to enter any other programme.
“Special needs, I mean all of them have some kind of special needs since they weren’t able to finish their courses when they were supposed to. Some people need more time, some people need more motivation, some people need computer programmesto help them so they all need some kind of special attention”.
She explains that sometimes pupils end up in this programme because they either didn't have the help they needed or they have been doing something else other than attending school. Anna also talks about home-school links and how this can impact on pupils:
“Their home life can actually be a major factor because some of them don’t get any support from home at all. Some of them have parents telling them that school isn’t important saying look at me I finished school when I was 14 and I have a job but it doesn’t really work in that way now, so it is hard! Some of the students have really really great parents that call me or come to visit and help them with homework”
She thinks this programme is extremely important because if it didn’t exist then the students wouldn’t have the relevant grades to enter any other programme and they would be forced to find a job at 15/16, which would be an impossible situation given their circumstances. Furthermore this year the entry requirements for other programmes have become stricter which makes this programme even more necessary.
Finally Anna talks to us about a specific piece of technology she uses called ‘Word Read Plus’ which aims to help pupils who are struggling with their English or who have come from other countries and are learning English for the first time at 16 or 17. With the programme students can replay English words, so for example if they see a word they don’t know the programme will read it out to them so they know how to pronounce it. The programme can also be used for Swedish students reading a long text, in order to help them with their grammar and is personalised for students with learning difficulties who find it easier to listen to the text rather than read it.
The AWARE Programme and Pupils with ASN
While “the STUDIUM” is based primarily in Bobergs, we also found out specifically how the AWARE programme meets the needs of pupils with ASN. Although the AWARE programme has specific entry requirements like most programmes in Sweden, when the programme began it was agreed to take a certain number of students with learning, social or any other difficulties.
According to Nils-Olov Hagman a teacher at AWARE, the programme currently caters to students with a number of difficulties including dyslexia, Aspergers syndrome and tourette’s syndrome. There is a teacher at AWARE who has a lot of knowledge about additional support needs and she devises a personal programme for these students.
Leif Thorsson (English teacher at AWARE) further sums up his views on how the atmosphere of AWARE can benefit pupils with additional needs:
“I think there is a higher percentage of students here who have reading and writing difficulties. But here they can learn in a more personalised way, and also, they are very helpful to one another. They don’t perceive their difficulties as a difficulty really.”
Conclusion
Due to the way the Swedish education system works and the fact that students can choose which programme to enter, we were unsure of the level of additional support that would be offered at Boberg/AWARE. However we found that although schools set entry criteria there are guidelines and legal obligations which mean that the school must still cater to pupils with additional support needs. As a result there are several examples of Personalised Learning which cater to a range of additional support needs in the school.